"This report shows that some of the most important debate over lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender equality is not happening in Congress, but
in religious denominations," said Matt Foreman, executive director of
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "The organizations in this report,
and many others like them, are winning the hearts and minds of people
of faith in spite of tremendous obstacles and meager resources - it's
truly David v. Goliath."

In recent years, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people
have faced unprecedented attacks from a highly organized religious right.
David v. Goliath outlines the "parallel" progressive faith movement that
welcomes LGBT people, and has grown simultaneously with the secular rights
movement. It reveals the intense opposition to these progressive faith
groups and the huge forces waged against them by the anti-LGBT industry,
which has unabashedly and effectively rallied conservative people of faith
to its cause.

The report includes large denominations and independent congregations
such as the United Church of Christ, Unitarian Universalist Association
and Congregation Beth Simchat Torah; LGBT denominational affinity groups
such as DignityUSA (Catholic LGBT organization) and the Institute for
Welcoming Resources (mainline Protestant LGBT organization); and "bridge-building"
organizations such as Al-Fatiha (Muslim LGBT organization) and Queer Asian
Spirit, which explore the intersections of religious or ethnic minority
identities and LGBT identity.

Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, executive officer of the Institute for Welcoming
Resources, said, "There has been a concerted effort from the conservative
political establishment, through secular organizations like the Institute
on Religion and Democracy, to influence the mainline Protestant churches,
create schism on the issue of lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender people,
and lure the denominations into a hard-right ideology, which would represent
a vast and historic shift in the nation's religious landscape."

David v. Goliath also reports on faith organizations outside the mainline
denominations that are working with populations that face issues of intersecting
identities of ethnicity, race, national origin, gender or HIV-positive
status, combined with being LGBT.

"When you're black, HIV-positive and transgender, and you are looking
for a faith community to support you with your physical, emotional and
spiritual needs, you are in the most absolutely vulnerable position of
people in our society," said Bishop Yvette Flunder, founder and senior
pastor of City of Refuge Church in San Francisco. "Someone's got to provide
the bridge for people at the intersection of these identities to connect
them to the services they need. Someone's got to give them the loving
community they need to survive."

Report Findings

David v. Goliath surveys denominations and organizations that have
made a commitment to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality
that represent an estimated 8,300 congregations and 2 million people.

Approximately 20.2 million people are involved in mainline churches,
including the Presbyterian Church USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, United Methodist Church and the Episcopal Church, where the
battle over acceptance of LGBT people takes place regularly over issues
such as LGBT ordination and same-sex marriage.

Organizations surveyed in the mainline Protestant and Catholic churches
are facing an average 8-to-1 disadvantage in funding compared to anti-LGBT
organizations in their denominations, and often explicit rejection from
denominational hierarchy.

Conservative organizations, foundations and publications such as
Concerned Women for America, Focus on the Family, Coors Foundation,
American Enterprise Institute and the Scaife Family Foundation have
invested hundreds of millions of dollars in faith-based organizing,
while many centrist and liberal organizations have avoided any alliance
with or funding for their progressive faith counterparts.

National
Religious Leadership Roundtable, a project of the National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force, was founded in 1998. The roundtable is an
interfaith collaboration of more than 40 faith leaders from across the
spectrum of American belief who are working to change the public dialogue
on religion and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The membership
of the National Religious Leadership Roundtable acts as a think tank,
an educational organization, as spokespeople and citizen advocates for
change.